In the 1960s as Americans began to hear more and more about a place unfamiliar to most of them, they were also learning the name of a man added to a growing list of leaders carrying the banner of communism and threatening Western ideals after World War II. The country was Vietnam, and the man was Ho Chi Minh, who led communist-controlled North Vietnam and wanted to take over South Vietnam to create an independent, unified communist country.
Although Ho’s name was largely unknown to Americans, he had been arguing for—and then fighting for—independence since the end of World War I. By the time the first U.S. combat units arrived in South Vietnam in March 1965, Ho was nearly 75 years old and would not get to see the last U.S. troops leave in March 1973. Ho died in September 1969.
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